Daniel Pfaltzgraf, M.B.A.
Bio
At the confluence of business strategy, creativity, and innovation, is where you鈥檒l find Daniel, with an agile mind, curious disposition, and collaborative spirit. Teaching within the 淫妻社鈥檚 Neff College of Business and Innovation, Daniel鈥檚 courses span the disciplines of business: management, marketing, technology, and innovation.
With one foot in the world of academia, and another in industry, Daniel is a 鈥減racademic鈥�, bridging the gap between theory and practice. In addition to teaching, Daniel works in industry for Nationwide on its innovation team where he serves as an Innovation Designer, creating new impactful products and services that people can鈥檛 imagine, and then can鈥檛 imagine living without. Prior, Daniel worked for Root Inc. (part of Accenture), a management consulting firm, bringing strategic change, interactive learning solutions, culture transformation, and engagement strategies to life for American Airlines, Fossil Group, Hilton Worldwide, Verizon, and numerous other Fortune 500 companies.
Insatiably curious? You鈥檝e got him pegged. Want to talk about design, business, strategy, and learning? You'll need a chair (and a glass of water).
A creative by heart, and strategist by instinct, Daniel is a polymath who is never bored. On any given week you might find him:
- Chasing the morning鈥檚 first light on walks at 4:00 AM, soaking in the morning glow and those radiant colors that ignite the sky (admission is free and great seats are available everywhere, if one just gets up and looks up).
- Crafting innovations and innovators for some of the world鈥檚 most respected brands.
- Thrill-seeking on roller coasters that take him nearly 100 miles per hour with the lifetime ticket he won to Cedar Point.
- Envisioning tomorrow鈥檚 breakthroughs in technology and design, turning what-ifs into what鈥檚 next.
- Mentoring the bright sparks of the future, wise 20-somethings, as they design the mosaic of their life.
- Facilitating minds through new ideas and perspectives, while defeating his own margin of ignorance along the way.
Daniel strives to have the ambition to rise to any challenge, except broccoli, and isn鈥檛 typically fond of the status quo. In fact, he鈥檚 going to challenge you:听send him a message听and share a story.
Education
- Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.),淫妻社
- Bachelors of Business Administration (B.B.A.),淫妻社
Teaching
Daniel brings a practitioner鈥檚 perspective and an educator鈥檚 heart to the classroom. With diverse experience spanning Fortune 500 firms, startups, consulting, and corporate innovation, his courses draw from real-world insight and a systems-level view of business. He has taught more than 20 sections in marketing, strategy, management, international business, technology, and innovation, bringing real-world perspective and interdisciplinary insight into every course 鈥� equipping students to think broadly, lead boldly, and learn by doing.
Classroom Manifesto:
"My goal for this lecture is to be as boring as possible.鈥� 鈥� said Daniel never. Though a lecture may spark some similarities to a locker room pep talk, Daniel has a zeal for education and the learning process.
Why do we learn? It is simply to learn a fact or two about something?
No. It鈥檚 much deeper than that.
We learn 鈥� because we鈥檙e curious, because we鈥檙e hungry, because we want to understand our world just a bit better, understand others a bit deeper, and along the way, understand ourselves.
We learn 鈥� because everyone in any class knows something we don鈥檛.
We learn 鈥� because behind every student is a professor, and every professor is a student.
We learn 鈥� because we鈥檙e all looking to defeat our margin of ignorance.
Watch and learn. Learn and grow. Imagine the unimaginable. And tomorrow, we鈥檒l do it all again.
Welcome to a place where all questions are good questions, everyone is heard, and everyone is valued. Everyone.
Selected Courses:
- Marketing
- Principles of Marketing
- Digital Marketing
- Marketing Research and Data-Based Management
- Marketing Systems
- Management
- Managerial and Behavioral Processes in Business
- Principles of Management
- Global Environment of Business
- Managing in the Global Economy
- Introduction to Business
- Business Principles
- Strategy
- Innovation and Design Thinking
- Technology
- Microcomputer Applications in Business
- Principles of Manufacturing and Service Systems
Textbooks and publications
Textbooks:听
- Contemporary Business (20th Edition)听鈥� Wiley, 2024听
- Contemporary Business: Canadian Edition (5th Edition)听鈥� Wiley, 2025听
Note:听Boone and Kurtz are listed as authors posthumously
Peer-reviewed articles:
Pfaltzgraf, D., & Insch, G. (2021).听Digitally native, yet technologically illiterate: Methods to prepare business students to create versus consume. Journal of Applied Business & Economics.听
Pfaltzgraf, D., & Insch, G. (2021).听Technological illiteracy in an increasingly technological world. Development and Learning in Organizations.听
Academic Publishing and Curriculum Development
Partners with leading academic publishers (Wiley, McGraw-Hill) on instructional design and digital learning assets. Creator of听60+听teaching resources听across听25+ textbooks听鈥斕齣ncluding appendices, test banks, digital platform modules, cases, PowerPoint decks, instructor manuals, simulations, case studies, and faculty guides 鈥斕�shaping how hundreds of thousands of business students learn across North America.
Media Features
鈥�25 Years, 60 Patents, and More to Come鈥�听鈥� Nationwide Innovation Milestone Feature (2025)听
鈥淏usiness Faculty Member Serves as Lead Author on Contemporary Textbook鈥�听鈥� 淫妻社 Newsroom (2025)
鈥淗oliday Hypocrisy of Hickory Farms鈥�听鈥斕齌oledo Free Press (2025)听
鈥淵our Classroom is a Brand 鈥� What鈥檚 Yours?鈥�听鈥� McGraw Hill Faculty Blog (2025)
鈥淭ransforming Classrooms: Four Strategies for Dynamic Engagement鈥�听鈥� McGraw Hill (2023)
鈥淗ow to Utilize Generative AI in the Classroom: When, Where, How, and Why鈥�听鈥� McGraw Hill (2023) Most viewed McGraw Hill faculty article of 2023
鈥淣ew Study Seeks to Transform How Technology is Taught鈥�听鈥� The Toledo Blade (2021)
鈥淣ew Study Explores Digitally Native, But Technologically Illiterate Students鈥�听鈥� 淫妻社 Newsroom (2021)
Patents
Pfaltzgraf, D., King, L.T., Barham, J.L., Hill, C.K., Hitt, R.D., & Hwang, A.H. (2024).听Display screen with animated graphical user interface听(U.S. Design Patent No. D1,053,894 S). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Issued December 10, 2024. Assigned to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Pfaltzgraf, D., King, L.T., Barham, J.L., Hill, C.K., Hitt, R.D., & Hwang, A.H. (2024).听Display screen with animated graphical user interface听(U.S. Design Patent No. D1,053,895 S). United States Patent and Trademark Office. Issued December 10, 2024. Assigned to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Research Interests
- Human-Centered Design
- Experience Design
- Digital Transformation
- Innovation Methods and the Creative Process
- User Experience Strategy
- Workplace Culture and Engagement
- Entrepreneurship and Business Model Innovation
- Learning Design